imaging techniques. 8 Angioscopic atheromatous plaque components such as thrombus or yellow plaque have been pathologically validated 9 and previous studies have reported that CAS images might provide information on pathogenic substrates in CTO lesions. 10 CTO lesions have a considerable amount of atheromatous plaque, which may lead to distal embolization and periprocedural myocardial necrosis (PMN). PMN, diagnosed by elevated cardiac biomarker levels, is not uncommon and is related to adverse outcomes, even in patients with small elevations in cardiac biomarkers and clinically uneventful percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). 11 However, few studies have reported the relationship between plaque components and PMN occurrence in coronary CTO lesions. We hypothesized that the combined use of IVUS and CAS imaging would give optimal evaluation of the tissue characteristics in coronary CTO lesions, clarifying the pathogenetic mechanism. Accordingly, we aimed to C oronary chronic total occlusion (CTO) is not uncommon in patients undergoing non-urgent coronary angiography. 1 Successful recanalization of coronary CTO lesions may improve long-term outcomes, 2,3 but understanding the lesion pathology is important for procedural improvement, leading to good outcomes for patients. A recent study demonstrated the pathological findings of CTO lesions in human coronary artery autopsies, 4 but the in vivo lesion morphologies and plaque components in CTO lesions remain unclear.Although intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) images are commonly used both for assessing lesion morphology and achieving good procedural results in CTO lesions, 5,6 the reliability of plaque characterization by IVUS remains undetermined. 7 In contrast, coronary angioscopy (CAS) provides direct visualization of atheromatous plaques, which may help assess coronary plaque components more accurately and with more detail compared with other